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Thanks... I must have missed a few pages of pics when I first scoped out your profile... I found the better ones of the 'electric fish'... Not sure that helps, but I like the design... I believe in simple when small. You can always scale up size... Problem with avatars is that big images get squished down anyway, with some bizarre results... look back or in the avatar testing thread at the beginning of the getting started forum. Simple works best. I'm doing a simple one for fun... I'm just short of time right now... Better after Friday... Probably NOT what you want, but that's OK, since almost no one gets it first time... Take a look up the postings for what I'm working with 'ertyu'... that was about the 5th or 6th variant before we tested it... We are already up to 8 and 9 fine tuning... we're both occupied right now... so it will sit a bit more. No problem... I bet BC & MsKitty and some others are thinking too... One thing I lack at the moment is a method to show it here... I'll work on that one... I think I'm going to need it... I'll try emailing you to tell you about it... yakking here doesn't always work well... Doug

Blew it again... forgot there was anything north of Resolute... come to think is there anything in Resolute?? Actually it wasn't half bad... for a visit... I'll try again... I think WV has it right, eh! theres a 2000 + up there. Never seen that one, I still like Mt. Thor on Baffin. Doug

Baffin - mt odin ??

You have the signal correct... and some good advice re: marking the car location... mine always says CAR for the waypoint name... I also keep HOME and a few other significant local TOWNA, TOWNB and so on for just in case... IF you are serious about going way way out... or even into isolated local areas... TELL SOMEONE reliable where you intend to go, and when you will be back... and REMEMBER to let them know you got back in one piece. Serious trips require serious planning and gear. I'd recommend dropping into your local Search and Rescue Team website, or look for one on the web... They have lots of good suggestions re: Trip Plans and basic survival gear... for all sorts of activities. I used to think that it was a bit 'silly' to worry about a short caching trip... Now I take basic stuff if I'm out of sight of the car. And if I'm going deeper in I carry my 24hr SAR pack and Ham Radio HT. Out here in Elkford, BC, once you leave town, you are in the wilderness, and amongst other things it can and will bite you, given the chance. Of course you might not need help yourself, but may be able to help someone else... and yes, I have been lost a few times, although the Army taught me you only make tactical deviations... One big thought... make sure you have spare batteries for your GPS, and a map and compass... They don't work well without the batteries (GPS not compass and map)... Any other questions, I'm watching.

Well, usually, something about you, or your interests. likes, etc. would help. Hi Again... thought I'd seen you on this forum... no more humorous tonguelashings from me... I agree that we would need a few hints about this family... I was going to ask, but you beat me to it... I did some of my own research, their gallery and profile etc... I don't know if you did it but the larger version of their current avatar has that neat circular fish tile mosaic... I tried working with that, but have NO idea of whether it has any significance (or copywrite for that matter)... one can work around it, but even the largest I could find was still grainy... Nice to know where they took that pic if that is interesting to them... we might find a higher res one... Also played with the names a bit... I'm a bit busy this month... Loved what you and mizdeeds did with TWJ... ideas. To the Kellys... I threw me together a temporary avatar using only my cache name... and variants on the GC colours to avoid cw infringement... ha ha. Sometimes simple is best, especially at 75x75. Is there some basic idea you have,,, if you don't know, just close your eyes and think about what you expect to see... that's basically what we all do... some better than others... Sometimes it doesn't come until you realize what you DON'T want... As for the TWJ project... I notice you guys both went for 'similar' clothes... I was thinking about the request asking for the SAME clothes... something like the pushmepullyou of Dr. Doolittle... mr/mrs Moses and two large GPS taking the place of the stone tablets, each going the other way... one large set of robes... what can I say... I'm creative for a technician, technical for a poor artist... always good for ideas, but still a bit limited in art skills, but getting better. Off topic, but did you ever find that cacher or teacher... I'll watch the TB thread for reply... Doug

Well I tried... thats what I get for reading the brochures at the local tourism office... I think there are going to be a lot of annoyed chambers of commerce when we get thru with this... I'll give them your contact info... I see someone else was thinking about the other alternative... I hope that isn't theirs... Doug

A bit vague... do you mean town or... Banff is at 1397 m / 4582 ' asl.... on the other hand is a tourist destination an town? My hometown (now) is Elkford BC at 1300 m 4265' asl... it is a little town (community). Of course I think Rossland BC claims it is at 1023m 3356' asl. There are of course many other towns that claim to be 'highest' but not always talking elevation, eh! Doug

Even reading the logs isn't a guarantee... just as many people don't log swaps, retrievals, drops or anything else in much detail... I've made a few 'connections' on lost and missing pieces where information was logged, and even in a few that were not, by carefull analysis of other information... time consuming sure... I agree that few cache owners or bug owners reply to emails and or log notes that should go out, many do of course and they seem to appreciate the effort whatever the reason missing items, caches or even simple needs maintenance. I'm new to the sport myself, and actually enjoy some of the mysteries during the winter as much as caching... Personally I like your idea of the greying out... My own thing would be to have some sort of 'missing' gallery where one could list 'item not present' or 'missing' reports... this could be by CO, TBO or CO or whoever... including bits and pieces that got separated in transit. What would it look like? The Description, Place Last Seen, Date etc... maybe the picture (all bugs and coins have pictures don't they. In other words, access to the Unknown Location listing... We might know what to look for at events and other places... might be able to recover some that way... The Travel Bug Forum has been discussing the problem of Black Hole Events... and education of newcomers seems to be the most effective route for that... I guess that could be said of the STATE cache events... some ideas there at any rate. Another complication of course is the large numbers of newbie cachers that don't have any connection to GC.com in any way... I've run into many who manage to get all the coordinates they care to seek without having to log in or register in any way... and never log online here at all... Do you know when the cache coordinates on GC were ?? out to non registered viewers... I go back to August 08 and it was 'secure' then. I have also found a site or two that have 'copies' of listings based on GSAK lists... mostly dated. Anyway I try to follow guidelines and help out where I can, and will spread the word... Doug

Bump! Just so your request stands a chance of being seen, again... there is a new request... This thread should maybe be pinned, like the testing area! Anyone know why a 2009 entry gets bumped into storage anyway? January 25 09 isn't that far back... Doug

Can't FTF mean "Fourth to Find?" Yep... and fifth, and 14, 15, 40-59, 400-599, 4000-5999 etc... should be enough for all of us to claim FTF... Doug

They were probably busy doing that to the guy with the foot cast... since he couldn't take it off easily... Doug

If it was LPD one of your two... it was placed 2008/01/25 near Edmonton... but you probably got the note of that... Patience.... it also seems that they were lucky to be able to do that... from their log. Doug

Hi there... I think (at first glance, anyhow) that you have finally hit the nail on the head... the original question was how best to reduce the chances of trackables dissappearing into 'somewhere'. For those of us who have attempted to solve some of the mysteries involved, one thing seems to be clear. There are far to many cachers who don't grasp the fundamentals of logging caches and trackables. So perhaps we should be doing more about that... as well as helping recover some... I'd vote for a process for educating everyone (newbies and old hands), on the process of logging. People don't seem to grasp the concept of describing what they do at a cache... took this, left that, in some small detail... (not tracking numbers of course)... the details help track down mistakes and oversights... I just did one easy cleanup of a goof... and discovered that someone else simply logs taking and dropping in the cache log but not the trackable logs... and that is only one of several done by others lately, and continuously... Experienced cachers wait to clear high volumes... we know that... personally I understand the possible reasons but it doesn't happen the way I do my few caches... but the key is to log it out of and into caches before you forget it... and the more you do the more likely you'll blow at least one. Again we are all supposed to know this, aren't we... it's in the FAQS... and it certainly appears time after time in the forums... So set up a display to help spread the word at events... A simple poster of the techniques should not be hard to make or procure... That alone would help get people thinking about it, new and old. Include the need for mission tags on TBs if they have one, and photos of the coin/tb to aid in locating an errant one... and other unique identification marks... Tags and travellers get separated. One could even ponder the circumstances of posting a Missing Trackables Board, it would be interesting to see how long before a few 'missing' TBs and GCs showed up in a collection... Someone could also speak to that end... that there are indeed collectables and travellers and they should not get intermingled. Anyway your comment on education along with friendly encouragement should provide some good results. The more who give and receive a bit of knowledge, the better the pastime will be at all levels. This isn't policing, but educating... we do it here and in the field, classes, why not events... and club sessions. Seems to me it's a good thing micros and nanos exist... no trackables to deal with... I'm not sure I will ever put one out there... caring for others pieces seems a full time task. Of course it will mean a few less mysteries to play with off season... darn it all... Guess there will always be technical problems and puzzles.. Doug

You're very welcome... winter is long here... but... caching season approaches... Since you emailed the 'perp', IF nothing happens, you might try the Cache Owner... that was a school project and the cacher might be a student of his... I noticed that he is holding more than one and might be unsure of how to deal with them... He logs the pickups, but does not retrieve them... but otherwise seems to care (even to the point of leaving a note that he had found a missing one at the point of origin). We should be able to get him sorted out easily... more important, is that there may be others from that project in the same condition... there are several of the finders and the CO who have low numbers (as if that counts) so it may be the blind leading the blind... although the hide is of good repute... I haven't seen it of course. Got to run... ball is yours for now... Doug

YOU DID WHAT ??? Doug

I noticed that too... but I was really short of time (late for meeting)... thanks for mentioning it... you can bow too! They don't seem to have much experience either... we'll let our OP get in some licks... I have to remember to take one message to pick on OP for their largess... in humour of course. Doug

You're Welcome BD... I've had some good mentoring. Starting to get the hang of things, although I suspect I'm still missing a few tricks... Always good having something to look forward to... Slightly off topic... I've been enjoying that Irfanview software thanks for the reference again... Doug

Hi there... Thanks, this was one of the easier ones... I simply LOOKED... It was the only TB listed in your posession, everything else was dropped off... Next I started with the Geocaches you found, starting with the dates you picked it up... I did not have to go far... you likely went backwards... I had to guess that I had the right TB but that was not much of a stretch... The saving grace was your correctly mentioning the drop... that saved a lot of time... People should mention their pickups and drops with a bit of detail... not tons... whether it is swag or trackables... makes tracing a bit easier... I traced another over in the Canada forum... under something like a relic... by the other stu... that one is mostly resolved, and it was just swag likely soon to be TBized... again, that would have been easier with some details... I'm still trying to figure one little part, but the majority is resolved... I like the mystery almost more than caching... Winter here is rough going... at least this part... One big factor in finding this was our friend Blue Deuce, who has set a good example... I'm learning to be more thorough although I'm still green in caching circles, I am a good researcher and SAR skills can be applied as well... besides like I said this was easy thanks to your logs... Glad to be of help... good on logging the note... now to find the TB... keep us informed on: November 20, 2008 by Stonehouse45 (3 found) Took the TB. Happy geocaching! Doug

IF that was the DV TB... That was the only one listed in your possesion (?spell) Try JMSS currently unavailable... November 20, 2008 by BC & MsKitty (305 found) Well .... FTF on this one! Great cache! I have never seen a cache container like this one! I gotta tell you ... we were preparing a cache for our "MsKitty's Past" series and the coordinates for it were N 42º 22.962 W 082º 10.576 Do they look familiar? Our micro was not even SIX FEET from your cache! LOL I had just come home from retrieving it to re-locate it because it was too close to the school, and saw the email announcing your cache. If it hadn't been dark I likely would have seen it! Of course, I just HAD to go back out and nab your cache at 8:30 PM. I am assuming that this is a school project. Very good! Not only will it be a good learning experience, it might spawn some more geocachers! If there is anything MSKitty or I can do to contribute, just let us know! Took nothing, Left the Disney Visitor Travel Bug. If it was something else... you still haven't dropped that one... I haven't got time right now to look for pick up, but if JMSS is 'off' right now someone may not have found it. Good luck... Doug

I think it is still early (two months or less in winter)... On the other hand nothing is lost advising them of your absent mindedness... we can all keep our eyes open for you... (D.V is it???) Not likely to be out our way, but who knows once spring comes... I'm babysitting one TB that I got out of a spring flood prone site this fall, but just haven't been able to get it to a good location... I did advise the owner and have been showing it around... of course I haven't lost this one... on the other hand, they have never responded either... Now brace yourself for what might be a flood of good natured ribbing coupled with better advice Doug

Hi There... First off, I have finally succeeded in seeing your images both of them... I'm happier with the results of the blue one... I will say that it makes much more sense than the first character of the brown... Same goes for the 2nd character on the lower line... but that could be either... I suggest NOT doing any more to them... I have never been able to read these things before... not for lack of trying... I can easily do cross eyed stereo pairs... however... I do have low acuity on my left eye coupled with one heck of an astigmatism and it tends to mess things up... note that both problems were on the left side for me... It was worth the training time for me even without the cache... I'll wait for the verifier to see my results. Thanks for the fun figuring out a method to see these without a decoder... In payment... I have also been figuring out the link back to cache page... only an opinion mind you... In general this does not happen with images posted by finds, and notes of other kinds, the USER side if you will... Did you post your pictures to the cache page directly? On other pages, the ones that kick back all seem to belong to the Cache Owner... and have a listing on the page lower down... they appear on the gallery, but display from the Page listing... NOT sure if that is what is happening, but it appears to be on the ones I've looked at... just an opinion... I think that if you posted a note to your log, then posted the pictures to the log, you might avoid the kick back... not sure of what happens to your cache page pics, but as long as they show up... either way works for me now I know what is probably happening. Thanks for the fun, I like mysteries... Doug

Hi Everyone... Glad to see this is working out... I suggested it might be worthy of a tag back in #6... it should be of interest to everyone who contributed to resolving the mystery... I've been of the opinion that working queries like this is almost more fun than caches themselves... not quite, but in our climate up here in the middle of nowhere, is preferable most days... to Stu: while communicating over there, try contacting the caching pair that might have moved it... if they or someone else did it they might as well get credit IF it becomes a tag... it could be dipped retroactively... it's only one cache along it's journey... it seems... Somebody had to move the 'pottery'... Hopefully adventurous_fiona will drop in and say hi too! Thanks to all for the hunt! Doug

Try looking for a cacher subn1vean apparently adventurous_fiona was visiting with him last summer and went back to UK... she may be trying to get it back there... Doug

Yeah, I've stumbled on a handful of "home made" travelers in my career that were not trackable. I even delivered one to a cache owner (dropped off in his cache) that made it across Canada from BC to Southern Ontario. Hopefully this one will make it home too. I sure hope so... I'm pretty sure that I have the right information... given the log... It points out the importance of noting small details in the online logs though, doesn't it... 'fiona' noted that she left it in the log as I printed it above... No one actually posted taking it in trade, of course it isn't a trackable that I've seen listed... ie 'fiona' has none activated. I have mentioned two cachers who were at the original drop and at caches listed by TOStu as done recently... the timeline is good, BUT it could be someone who hasn't posted a log yet for Scout and About... I asked TOS for info on where he or his Tiger may have picked it up... but that is more a local mystery in England... I'm not much help other than steerage... Just a note in leaving... I'm originally from Toronto... came West in 95... and I'm still hosting a TB over the Winter... I couldn't leave it in the cache it was in... has a history of flooding in the spring... and most of the local caches are too small for it... but I've been showing it around til spring... Here's to helpful cachers... Doug

First: See my first note... if you haven't so far... Second: The image represents OGOPOGO... BC's Nessie... whose home is Lake Okanagan in Central BC Same location for Kelowna. Several cities there claim 'pogo' as their own. Third: Looking thru the listings, it appears that it is possible that runningduck and/or mk rambling rose were the movers from Scout and About... but that is just speculation since you didn't mention where you found it... I did some guessing. Perhaps you could ask them since it's your mystery and they are locals there. Right now it seems to be 'swag' on a mission as I said... perhaps it's a cause looking for a TB tag??? The item is a ready made 'mission' tag. You'll have to contact adventurous fiona... although if you traded for it, it would appear to be yours for now. Edit: Reading the Okanagan logs in 'fiona's' profile... Looks likes she is one of yours... was visiting Kelowna and started caching with a friend / family... Better look closer to home... probably a bit older than first though as well... these things take time... don't they... Good luck, what ever happens... Doug